For years now, there has been an unstoppable urban legend that you can MAKE your own pregnancy test at home (sometimes they call it a gender reveal test) IF you mix your urine with household bleach.

This D.I.Y. - H.P.T. is supposed to fizz to indicate that you are pregnant.

Which all sounds fine and well, except for the fact that adding bleach to your urine is toxic – especially if done in a small, ill-ventilated space, like say – a bathroom.

No, seriously.

Sodium Hypochlorite is the active ingredient in chlorine bleach. Fresh urine contains urea, which is roughly speaking “two ammonia plus carbon dioxide minus water”. When sodium hypochlorite reacts with the ammonia in your urea, toxic gases called chloramines are produced. Exposure to chloramine gases can cause the following symptoms:

+ Coughing.

+ Nausea.

+ Shortness of breath.

+ Watery eyes.

+ Chest pain.

+ Irritation to the throat, nose, and eyes.

+ Wheezing.

+ Pneumonia and fluid in the lungs.

In short, it’s just not worth it. And it is totally not worth putting yourself and your baby (in case you are pregnant) in danger for a test that is in NO WAY accurate.

The amount of the fizz could simply have to do with the dilution in your urine. Drink a lot of water beforehand = less fizz. Don’t go for several hours = more fizz. See?

Nothing to do with the hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) which is the hormone is produced by the placenta shortly after the embryo attaches to the uterine lining and builds up rapidly in your body in the first few days of pregnancy. THIS is the hormone that actual (also known as non-lethal) pregnancy tests detect.

Okay – now you know. I have no doubt that this one post will not stop all the bleach testing done in the Glow Community – but please feel free to reference it, as you see others posts about this.

Please stay safe. Amazon.com has tons of pregnancy tests that are available for less than a $1 each.

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